The Ultimate Guide to Writing Software Without Losing Your Mind

Hey Devs Say Goodbye To Hours Of Fixing Bugs

TL; DR: My friend is a software developer and says his biggest headache is constantly having to rewrite code. Thankfully, his company uses Sonar. Sonar’s suite of tools helps developers create Clean Code which helps minimize those endless revisions by catching errors in real time. We talked with Sonar’s Product Marketing Manager, Andrew Osborne, and it’s easy to see why so many Fortune 100 companies rely on Sonar to streamline their development processes.

Did you know that nearly half of software developers are now turning to AI to help write their code? According to a 2023 Stack Overflow study, 44% of surveyed devs are using generative AI tools to aid in their code-writing processes.

At this point in the Digital Era, this trend probably doesn’t come as much of a surprise. 2024 has definitely been the year for artificial intelligence across various creative fields, with about a quarter of writers reporting using AI to overcome writer’s block and a third of graphic designers relying on AI to create design elements.

When ChatGPT was released, it was like we all witnessed the Holy Grail of productivity: a free, magical tool that could handle tasks you didn’t have time for or provide the creative spark you needed.

Sonar, a company dedicated to tools for ensuring all code is fit for development and production gets why AI is so appealing for coding. Its team sees firsthand how AI can simplify the process and boost productivity for developers.

Sonar logo
As an advocate for clean code, Sonar develops tools to help devs improve the quality and security of their software code.

In fact, Sonar’s Product Marketing Manager, Andrew Osborne, described the use of AI as “fantastic” — with one major caveat.

“You can trust the tools and the code they give you, as they are generally well-engineered, but it is critical to then verify that code. Make sure it’s clean. Make sure there are no bugs. Make sure nothing malicious slipped in,” he said. “We really want to stand by developers to ensure all code, whether it’s AI- or human-generated, is secure and robust.”

While bad code has always been present, developers are now facing a new problem with generative AI. Because if you think about it, it really wasn’t that long between when hallucinations made headlines and when ChatGPT was released.

Hallucinations occur when AI models generate outputs that are inaccurate or downright nonsensical. This is especially common in coding, where a generated snippet looks correct but introduces bugs or leaves security gaps in the system instead.

For developers, this can be a hard hit. Because of the booming tech market, coding is one of the most in-demand skills right now. For many — especially those just starting out — using gen-AI is a game changer because it saves time and helps developers learn a few things along the way.

The downside, though, was that much of the generated code wasn’t always “clean.”

But this is what Sonar is for. With a full suite of tools designed to help developers create, edit, and release clean, accurate code, Sonar’s solutions take the headache out of coding. If you want to say goodbye to worrying about delays, bugs, or spending hours finding and fixing issues, then Sonar may be your saving grace.

The New Norm

Sonar has been in the software game long before generative AI became the tool it is today. Founded 15 years ago, Sonar has grown to have more than 7 million developers who use its solutions.

The key to this success, Andrew said, is Sonar always pivoting to help developers make “secure and robust software with clean code.” Nothing more, nothing less.

“I think that’s probably why I joined the company,” Andrew admitted. “At the end of the day, clean software affects all of us, right? It sounds really grand.”

No kidding: Sonar’s customer base has grown by more than 2,000% since 2018. About 80 of those customers are Fortune 100 companies, too.

Fast forward to today, and Sonar has three main solutions in its development suite of tools:

  • SonarQube: Say hello to Sonar’s flagship product, which acts like a gatekeeper and analyzes code for issues, from styling to security vulnerabilities.
  • SonarCloud: SonarCloud is Sonar’s SaaS product, which Andrew describes as a cloud-based version of SonarQube. It’s a fully managed SaaS solution managed by the Sonar team, whereas SonarQube is an on-premises tool that is self-managed.
  • SonarLint: This product is kind of like having your own personal code checker in your IDE. Complete with a red squiggly line that identifies where potential issues are, SonarLint flags issues in real time as you’re writing, with the context as to why and the potential implications if not resolved. It also provides contextual suggestions on how to fix issues. (PS: It’s best for snippets — not large applications.)

These three solutions make up Sonar’s suite of developer tools — which Andrew said were born out of necessity and developer request, and have evolved through listening to developer feedback given in the Sonar community forum, which is packed with about 40,000 active users.

“Our product managers also monitor the forum closely. They can dive in to see what’s trending, spot areas of friction, and engage directly with users,” Andrew noted. “It’s not just about reading feedback; they can jump into conversations and say, ‘Tell me more,’ and collaborate on solutions with our users.”

A Legacy of Clean Code

I’ve mentioned “clean code” several times now. When I first heard it from Andrew, I figured it had to do with writing accurate code as opposed to, well, inaccurate code. And while that’s partly true, Andrew said it’s a bit more nuanced than that.

Sonar abides by the four attributes of obtaining and maintaining clean code:

  1. Consistency: The code is written in a uniform, conventional way and is easy to read and follow.
  2. Intentionality: Every instruction in the code is with purpose and is precise enough to clearly communicate its intended behavior.
  3. Adaptability: The code is structured to be easy to evolve over time if changes need to be made. Localized changes should be made without breaking functionality or introducing bugs.
  4. Responsibility: The code meets high standards of quality and is reliable, secure, and maintainable.

So, why is clean code so important?

It’s simple: Unclean code can cost you. Technical debt (issues in your codebase) can pile up and make it expensive to fix problems later on. As Andrew noted: “It’s a lot more costly to fix a bug once it’s in the wild versus catching it early in development.”

Screenshot of Sonar's platform checking reliability, vulnerabilities, and code smells
Sonar’s Clean Code Solutions improve code quality, making it more reliable, maintainable, and secure.

Truer words have never been spoken. According to IBM, the cost to fix an error after product release can be four to five times more expensive than uncovering one during the design phase and up to 100 times more than identified in the maintenance phase.

You’ve probably heard the phrase “shift left” when it comes to software development. It means catching issues earlier in the process, but Andrew and his team take it even further.

“We say to start left,” Andrew laughed. “From the moment you’re writing that code, it needs to be clean, robust, and free of any issues. After all, you might leave the company tomorrow and someone else will inherit that code. They’ll be building on what you’ve done.”

The second aspect of clean code is simply being considerate of your fellow developers.

As Andrew put it: “When you’re a developer, you want to work on cool projects and focus on the latest technologies, not spend time fixing old mistakes.”

When devs spend half their working week on fixing bugs and spending time refactoring bad code (when possible), I’d have to agree. Pied Piper in HBO’s “Silicon Valley” looks fun, but I wouldn’t want to be Dinesh in every episode.

Meet Your Coding Allies

Whether you’re using SonarQube or SonarCloud for continuous in-depth inspection or SonarLint for some quick guidance, these tools are designed to make clean code the norm at every stage of development. Let’s break each of them down.

SonarLint

SonarLint is your first step to writing code. It flags issues as you’re typing code so it’s ready to move to the next phase.

What’s really neat is that, just like in your favorite word processor, you’ll see a red squiggly line under parts of your code where the system detects a potential problem. From there, you can accept or reject the fix and learn from the explanation provided.

“Many developers today don’t write all their own code — they bring in code from third parties or AI-generated sources, and SonarLint scans that code immediately, so you can see whether it’s good to go or if there’s a problem,” Andrew said.

He also shared that SonarLint is actually why he got involved with the company. It’s easy to see why — after all, who wouldn’t want a tool that acts like a fact-checker, reviewing everything you write before it’s shared with the world?

SonarQube

Once you’ve written your code and are satisfied with what SonarLint suggested, your next step is SonarQube. Think of it as the line editor of a book: It’s there to catch issues before anyone else does.

Andrew describes SonarQube as the flagship product of Sonar, sharing that over the years, it’s “gained a huge following in the developer community because it ensures your code is clean before it is pushed to production, and can cause an issue in the software.”

Here’s how it works: SonarQube performs a comprehensive analysis of your codebase to identify how easy it will be to maintain, how reliable and accurate it is, and whether it’s secure enough against bad actors (that’s tech-talk for hackers).

Plus, you also get Quality Gates. Quality Gates lets organizations build their own version of Clean Code across the enterprise, so if a dev writes code that doesn’t match the criteria, the build pipeline will fail and prevent the code from being released. It’s a good way to make sure everyone’s on the same page about the standards, quality, and reliability of writing code.

SonarCloud

Say hello to Sonar’s SaaS solution, SonarCloud. It’s a cloud-based SaaS platform for developers and their teams that’s similar to SonarQube but is instead hosted in the cloud so it’s easier to manage scaling projects. New this year, SonarCloud now has two plan offerings, Teams and Enterprise, which enable organizations to empower development teams of all sizes to deliver quality and secure code with confidence.

“With more companies, especially large enterprises, moving their toolsets to the cloud, they wanted SonarQube available in that space too, which is where SonarCloud Enterprise comes in,” Andrew explained the birth of SonarCloud. “These two solutions can work together with SonarLint to see issues as they code, and also highlighted in the software development process. SonarQube or SonarCloud is the engine and SonarLint is the interface at the coalface where code is being created.”

Think of SonarCloud as your fully managed solution. If you want to manage your own on-premises setup, then SonarQube is the way to go. But if you prefer to let the pros handle it, then SonarCloud is a great way to scale without issue.

Plus, it integrates with some of your favorite DevOp platforms, including GitHub, Bitbucket, Azure, and GitLab.

As for what’s next, Andrew said he can’t share too much — but there have been some recently released developments that are direct requests from the Sonar community.

For example, Sonar recently launched an automatic analysis tool for C and C++. Andrew said that before the automatic analysis tool, a first analysis of a large C++ project could take a couple of days to set up and prepare.

“You simply import your project, press ‘Go,’ and it provides a first analysis, highlighting areas to focus on, from code styling to potential vulnerabilities,” he explained. “This tool saves a huge amount of time for developers — and their generous appreciation made us feel really good about it, too.”

I can’t stress enough how much time and effort Sonar seems to be able to save. While I’m not a coder, I am a writer, and I see it as having your own editor and beta reader without spending months pitching to the right people.

If you’re still not convinced, take a look at what some Fortune 500 companies are saying: Tesco, a multinational retailer, reported saving its developers five to 10 hours a week. BAE Systems, an international defense company, saved more than 15 hours a week per developer and achieved 100% code compliance.

Or, better yet, get a free Sonar demo.